Edison College trustees to decide about adding School of Health Sciences

FORT MYERS - At Edison State College, administrators are looking to split one school dedicated to health — Edison's largest — into two, citing the unwieldy size of the combined programs. From there, the newly created School of Health Sciences will grow independent of Edison's existing School of Nursing.

What: Edison State College Board of Trustees

When: 2:30 p.m. workshop; 4 p.m. meeting on Tuesday

Where: 1092 E Cowboy Way, Building A, Room 119, LaBelle

Think of it the way cells multiply in the human body.

At Edison State College, administrators are looking to split one school dedicated to health — Edison's largest — into two, citing the unwieldy size of the combined programs. From there, the newly created School of Health Sciences will grow independent of Edison's existing School of Nursing.

Neither school is immediately adding new programs, but eventually the two are expected to start multiplying programs under their own individual banners.

However, administrators spearheading the change criticized the move as recently as three months ago, and documents promoting it show that a School of Health Sciences may not be immediately ready to stand on its own two feet.

Meanwhile, the request comes at a time when Edison is completing a crucial reaccreditation process in which change can draw additional scrutiny from the accreditation committee.

At a Tuesday meeting in LaBelle, the college is seeking approval from its Board of Trustees to create the school.

As recently as February, Edison's Vice President of Academic Affairs Steve Atkins had expressed concern over the proposal to split health sciences from nursing, telling a colleague the change was ill-advised.

The discussion came at a time of internal strife at Edison, when a top search committee recommendation for the open School of Nursing dean was reportedly ignored, and the hiring process hit a snag. Atkins resigned a few weeks later, and has since been rehired following widespread faculty outcry.

According to personal notes by Robert Beeson, the district-wide dean at Edison, the proposal to split the School of Health Sciences from nursing was brought to him by then-Senior Vice President James Browder, who since has been ousted under faculty pressure.

"I would later write an email to (Browder) ... that Atkins had agreed that it was contrary to what was best with (reaccreditation) approaching, that we did not need another reorganization effort to explain," Beeson wrote in notes dated Feb. 21, and shared with the Daily News.

"I think that if you look at the (full-time students) for health professions, the numbers in those programs do not warrant a separate dean position," Beeson wrote in the email to Browder. "There are already too many administrators in the Division of Professional and Technical Studies, and I believe that nothing is gained by splitting the administration of health professions from nursing."

Materials for Tuesday's Board of Trustees meeting note that there are more than 800 current applicants for programs in the health sciences field at Edison, out of a total of 24,000 enrolled students across five counties.

There are more than 800 current applicants for programs in the health sciences field at Edison, out of a total of 24,000 enrolled students across five counties.

On an interim basis, Associate Dean of Nursing and Health Mary Lewis has served as head of the School of Nursing.

While the college is still seeking a permanent dean of nursing, Atkins said placing multiple programs under nursing is turning out to be unwieldy.

"We really haven't progressed very far with how we're going to administer the areas, so we're back to square one," Atkins said Friday. "So, we want to get an effective organizational model in place and move on. ... That's what the college wants to do, and I'll support it."

He said the college will be required to communicate the changes to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the regional body overseeing Edison's ongoing reaccreditation process. However, unless it sought a "significant departure" in program offerings, Atkins said the school will not have to go through a rigorous approval process with the association, as it would if it wanted to add a law school, for example.

In effect, Atkins said, the split between nursing and health sciences shouldn't jeopardize the college's reaccreditation.

But, he acknowledged, "The best thing is to have as little change as possible" during a reaccreditation year.

Meanwhile, the college has acknowledged it lacks the minimum technical requirements for health sciences to actually be considered a "school" — two bachelor's degrees.

As it is being proposed, the School of Health Sciences would have just one bachelor in cardiopulmonary sciences degree, as well as six associate in science degrees ranging from dental hygiene to radiologic technology.

However, Atkins said there is precedent for making an exception. When the School of Nursing was created, it encompassed only one bachelor's degree — in nursing — before expanding and adding the cardiopulmonary science bachelor's degree.

Florida Gulf Coast University's College of Health Professions offers a bachelor's degree in nursing, as well as a handful of certificates, master's degrees and additional bachelor's degrees.

Edison isn't the only game in town for training in health professions, either. Fellow state school Florida Gulf Coast University's College of Health Professions offers a bachelor's degree in nursing, as well as a handful of certificates, master's degrees and additional bachelor's degrees.

But that doesn't mean Edison's plan to split and expand its health sciences unit presents a conflict, FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw said.

"As in the past, we'll continue to work with Edison to see where we can collaborate," Bradshaw said, noting that among the degrees listed by Edison to include in its School of Health Sciences, none are duplicated by FGCU. "Certainly, we'd like to sit down with them and discuss opportunities for collaboration when the time comes."

Atkins said the college is working with the Florida Department of Education to get approval for a new physician assistant bachelor's degree. When the college submitted an initial application for the degree last year, he said the state asked the college to do more work to demonstrate the availability of jobs for graduates with a physician assistant bachelor's degree.

As far as having the faculty to support a new school, materials for Tuesday's Board of Trustees meeting note that the college just barely meets the 25 percent threshold of full-time faculty members with terminal degrees in their fields, such as a PhD or a medical degree.

Also on Tuesday at a 2:30 p.m. workshop, trustees are expected to receive an update from President Kenneth Walker on his six-point plan to improve communication and accountability at the college, proposed in response to concerns over hiring practices and allegations of lax administrative oversight.

At that workshop, trustees also will discuss drafts of new policies designed to increase transparency at the college, from better public access of board meeting agendas and minutes to board approval of all multi-year employment contracts.